The walk back to their apartment was short and quiet. Jackson's arm was still slung protectively around her shoulder. When he realized that the shivering radiating from her body was because of what that guy did and not the crisp air outside he knew he couldn't do it anymore. He wasn't going to be that guy who stood by and let the girl he knew he should be with go and fuck someone else simply because he was too scared to tell her how he felt. That was Mark Sloan, not him. He had dated Lexie because he wanted to love someone the way Mark loved her. The feeling was the right thing to go after; he just did it with the wrong girl.

When they made it to their apartment door was when his arm finally let her go to get his key, his body practically aching from loss of contact. He thought how insane it was that just the sling of his arm her shoulders felt amazing to him. He sighed as he opened the door to their apartment, turning on the light.

"Sit down and I'll get some ice for your hand, "she ordered, the medical bossy side in her coming out. Not willing to fight her on anything anymore, he did as he was told while she made her way to the fridge. He wondered if she was really completely unaware to how gorgeous she was or if it was just an act she put on. Then he realized she was a terrible liar and it made him hurt to know that no one had probably ever told her that she was gorgeous, himself included.

"Earth to Jackson" she said standing in front of him ice pack now in hand. She smiled down at him, for once being taller because he was seated. "I don't know whether to be mad at you for hurting your hand or impressed that you screwed it up this much with one punch."

He smirked as she took his hand in her own and put the ice on it. "Yeah well it seems I've been getting a lot of practice punching guys out for you lately." He didn't mean for it to be mean, and in reality it wasn't; just true to the point of hurting. All he knew was he immediately regretted saying it when he saw her smile fade.

"I didn't…"

"No your right." She said already forgiving him for the remark without a formal apology. She quickly became very interested in her feet as she rambled, "I wasn't going to have sex with him. Maybe just kiss him a bit to get everyone off my back and stop calling me a prude ya know? But then he s-started saying all of these s-sexual things and it k-kinda freaked me out so I tried to leave a-and then…"

But he already knew what happened next so he just stood up and hugged her. (Half because his body had been craving contact since their last touch was broken and half because she just looked like she needed it.) They stayed like that for a while, her head leaning on his chest, his hands making soothing circles into her back. He thought he might just want to live there forever, in this limbo away from feelings that weren't allowed and drunken bar jerks; a place where it could just be him and her, Jackson and April.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked finally making eye contact with him but still in his arms.

He could have gone with the cliché "nothing" but the whole falling-in-love-with-your-best-friend-without-even-realizing-it was enough for him, so he went with the truth hoping this time it wouldn't hurt, "You keep thinking guys who aren't good enough for you can make you happy."

XXX

She wasn't expecting that. Hell she wasn't expecting any of this. The way he was holding her was intimate. Intimacy had always been her real issue with guys, so she didn't understand why it was so easy with him. And the way he was rubbing her back…she never wanted it to stop. Sure, he was her best friend, but he was also arguably the best looking guy she had ever seen, if not the best looking guy ever. So why did she feel more at ease with him than any other man she had ever dated?

The question wasn't supposed to be said aloud. But she had a problem filtering her thoughts when she was nervous or experiencing new things, which both happened to be occurring. But his answer was wrong. Sure, it was a nice thing to hear, but it wasn't true. April knew she was a lot of things-smart, a deceit doctor, loyal friend and kick ass cook- but she wasn't desirable. It's the real reason why she had never had sex; all the guys had wanted to get laid, but they didn't really want her. She had to take what she could get, scrape the bottom of the barrel. He, being him, clearly never had that problem.

She opened her mouth to refute his remark but he beat her to it, "And do not say that it's not true, because it is. Your kind and smart and fucking gorgeous and a million other things I would name if you would let me. But, you never would because modest is one of those things." She smiled at that and he continued, "That guy was a jerk. Any guy who won't wait for you because he just wants sex is a fucking moron. Because you're not the kind of girl a guy has a one night stand with and never calls again. You're the kind they fall in love with."

The blush was immediate, unstoppable really. His eyes never broke their contact and she was glad he was still holding her, because if she was standing alone she would have just fallen to the floor. "W-what makes you s-say that?" she asked because she was really quite confused. Maybe it was the fact that she was slightly inebriated, or maybe that punch had given her a concussion.

She just knew she had to be dreaming when he calmly said with a shrug of his shoulders, "I speak from experience." Before he leaned down and kissed her.

Hey. Thanks to anyone reading this! Sorry the spacing is kinda off. i actually have a lot of this story written so i'm just going to release it bit by bit. I don't no if i'm going to make it a M rating because I've never really written anything like that but if you want me to i'll try my best. Let me know what ya think.